One More Obstacle
by TheGreatMattsby
Summary: Post Book 4 Finale: Korra and Asami enjoy their time in the Spirit World together before they have to head home. The Avatar has special plans for the woman she loves, but upon returning home, she'll have to overcome one more obstacle in their path before she can truly express her feelings. Oneshot. My first Legend of Korra fanfic/headcanon, hopefully more to come soon.


One More Obstacle

Korra and Asami walked through the newly-opened Spirit Portal in Republic City together, hand in hand. The new portal had opened up in a hilly meadow of purple flowers and bare trees, with a dark blue sky and peaceful spirits bobbing in and out of sight. Korra lead them directly through the meadow. She'd had to hold her breath and squeeze Asami's hand tightly while going through the Portal. This was the first time Korra had gone to the Spirit World without some immediate problem that she needed to figure out.

"Korra?" Asami asked with a tint of concern in her voice, "are you okay?"

Korra released her breath and gave Asami a reassuring smile as they walked through the meadow, squeezing her hand again. "I'm fine."

Korra watched with amusement as Asami's eyes grew so wide she thought they would pop out of her head as they tried to take in every little part of the Spirit World. She released the Avatar's hand as she ran around, talking to spirits, examining crazy plants and studying closely as a flock of multicolored hummingbirds flew over their heads, their wings flapping impossibly fast. When they weren't taking in the sights, they were talking of this and that, their battle with Kuvira (and how Asami could improve her hummingbird mech designs), Asami's guilt over the death of her father, their happiness for Varrick and Jhu Li, Korra's newfound appreciation for Tenzin, and wondering what Mako and Bolin would be up to. They encountered all kinds of different, cute spirits and steered clear of the Dark ones.

"Korra, this is the most amazing place I've ever seen!" Asami exclaimed in awe as they walked by a large cliff face with a forest growing on the bottom side. "Don't you think we could just stay here forever?"

Korra laughed, watching her partners' wide eyed joy. "I sure hope so," she said with a toothy grin.

The couple came to a beach with shiny, golden sand and perfectly clear water around mid-afternoon. Many spirits huddled around this beach, likely due to it's near perfect qualities. Korra and Asami ate some of the food they'd prepared and spent the rest of the day swimming and relaxing in the healing Spirit Water until nightfall came around at last. Korra earthbent the two of them some shelter over a massive leaf at the edge of the beach, and they changed into their sleeping attire. Thunder and lightning could be seen in the distance and Spirit World storms were usually pretty bad. The girls settled in together with the blanket and pillows they'd prepared.

"Hey, Asami?" Korra asked once they had settled, "...I've been thinking about this all day, and it's been bugging me...why do you think so many people don't believe that two girls can be together?" Korra had her left arm wrapped around Asami while her right arm was outstretched towards the sky, where a large amount of the rain had frozen in midair and was floating in place. Asami smiled, looking up into the focused face of her brawny girlfriend.

"I'm not really sure, honestly... I guess it's just an expected norm for a woman to marry a man. My father always told me that I was going to marry an amazing gentleman, rich and handsome." Korra looked down into Asami's beautiful face and stared into her light green eyes once more. Asami shrugged. "Not to sound whiny, but I've had so many different men approach me just because of the way I look. I don't want to be some trophy wife. I've always been aware of my subtle feelings for other women, but since the day I met you, I knew there was something different about you. Something special. And no, I'm not referring to you being the Avatar." Korra smirked, a blush appearing on her face. "So here's a question for you," Asami continued, running her fingers through Korra's short brown hair, "when did you realize that you loved me?"

"Oh, that's easy," Korra said with a smile, "You've always been the one I thought I could go to with a problem. Ehh- not that I think you should have to deal with all of my problems with me, but- oh you know what I mean" she said, her cheeks feeling hot as Asami put a calming hand on her arm. She continued. "I've always felt closer to you than any of our other friends. I mean, I love them to death, but...that's why I only wrote to you when I was recovering, and not Mako or Bolin…" Korra paused and took a deep breath, a small pang of guilt hit her hard in the chest, and she realized that she was rambling, so she just got to the point.

"Around the time that the Republic City press was pressuring me to fix the problems with the Spirit Vines. You were there for me and comforted me without question, not to mention all of the other times that you've been there for me, like...when I was poisoned..." she paused again and closed her eyes, Asami took her hand, squeezing it the way she had on that day 3 years ago. "But I think that's the moment that I knew."

"Knew what?" Asami asked quietly, a mischievous look in her eye.

Korra smiled again and placed her hand on Asami's cheek, slowly leaning down towards her; the accumulation of rain floating in the air dropped with a splat. Asami closed her eyes as her lips met with Korra's. The moment was numbing, a moment that both of the girls had been looking forward to for years. The embodiment of their secret love-turned relationship was in this kiss. The two embraced during their romantic moment, and after a few minutes they both had their eyes open again. They were startled to see that many cute little spirits had gathered and were watching intently, who Korra shooed away gently. A swarm of dragonfly-lightning bugs swooped over the pair, creating a dazzling light show of yellows, reds, blues, purples and greens against the stormy sky. Asami watched the light show intently for a moment before she looked up and saw Korra's hand starting to move in a swift, wavy, yet firm motion. Suddenly Asami felt a spike of pleasure between her legs and shot the Avatar a look, which she returned with a look of innocence.

"Are you waterbending my-" Asami started, but Korra silenced her with another kiss.

. . . . . . .

Korra and Asami spent about a week in the Spirit World. They made sure to keep tabs on their locations so they could get back to the portals and back home. They visited Iroh, who took a quick break from making tea and offering spirit cakes for a large crowd of anxious spirits to shake Asami's hand happily as Korra introduced them, then then turned to the Avatar to give her a big hug. He and Asami had a very long match of Pai Sho once all of his guests were served, and even though Korra was well aware of her girlfriend's unnatural skill at the game, she could tell that Iroh was letting the woman win. He gave them some extra food and drink to take along with them, and he pulled Korra to the side quietly while Asami was packing up.

"I'm so happy for you. I know that it will work out," he whispered with a big smile and a wink before pulling Korra into another hug. She smiled and thanked him with a respectful bow, then got back to helping Asami. Iroh happily waved to them with a huge grin on his face as they moved on with their vacation.

Korra laughed as she watched her helpless engineer run amok in Wan Shi Tong's library, almost tripping over herself with all of the books about lost technology in her arms. She sat cross legged against the end of a bookshelf with at least 25 books and Korra sat alongside her, cluelessly listening to Asami ramble on how she could make her airships fly faster and require less fuel, or how she planned to rebuild the areas of Republic City that had been destroyed during the battle with Kuvira, all the while flipping through her books, showing her pictures of 'old fashioned steam engines' or 'amazing new upgrades to the telephone.'

Wan Shi Tong was not very happy to see the Avatar, but he left them alone, so long as Korra never mention either the names Unalaq or Vaatu in his library. The Avatar had no problem with that.

The couple found their way to the original Spirit Portals, and stepped through both, but since both of these portals led to the North and South poles respectively, and the fact that neither of the girls had prepared any form of Winter wear, they turned back almost immediately and decided to take refuge in the Tree of Time, where Asami was happy yet somewhat saddened by some of the memories the ancient Tree showed her.

Each night was more magical than the last, as the couple explored each other's bodies in ways neither of them could have imagined. Both girls were getting better and better at figuring out how the other ticked, and working that to each other's advantage. Korra employed her "waterbending" technique on Asami with professionalism, but she saves that technique only for when things get really heated.

Korra sighed to herself with a smile on her face one particular night when her and Asami had finished making love once more. The Avatar had completely overwhelmed and tuckered out her raven haired girlfriend, who was fast asleep wrapped in Korra's arms. Korra carefully stood up from their squishy mushroom bed so as to not disturb the sleepy dame, and walked to the edge of the cave they had decided to spend the night in, crossing her arms and staring out into the dark night as she leaned against the cave wall. Tomorrow her and Asami would be returning to the Physical World. They were lucky enough to catch a break for a week, but the world needed it's Avatar more than ever right now, especially since her 3 year hiatus, and then her decision to go on a vacation after Kuvira's fall from power. Asami was also needed to help oversee the reconstruction of the city after it was almost completely destroyed in the battle with Kuvira's giant mech.

Korra turned her head and made sure that Asami was completely passed out before moving over to her bag and rummaging around in the contents, trying not to make too much sound. She found what she was looking for and curled her fingers around it, pulling it from the bag and opening her hand to look at it. It was the betrothal necklace that Avatar Aang had given to Katara when he proposed to her, all of those years ago. Katara had given it to Korra after her final healing session, reminding the Avatar that she wasn't getting any younger, and she wanted Korra to have something to remember her, and Aang, by. It was one of a kind, and Katara thought it would suit her better than necklace was beautiful, Aang had bent it himself. On one side of the circular coin attached to the blue lace was the light blue symbol of the Water Tribe with actual water inside its carefully crafted details. On the other side were the symbols of the other 3 nations, forming a triangle of mixed colors. Korra ran her thumb over the water inside the necklace and all 4 symbols glowed their distinctive colors, blue, red, green and grey. Spirit Water. She smiled and looked up at her girlfriend again, who even in sleep somehow managed to be the most beautiful woman the Avatar had laid her eyes upon.

She stuffed the necklace carefully into one of the pockets in her pants, which were splayed casually on the floor of the cave, along with the rest of her and Asami's clothing. She knew exactly when she was going to do it, tomorrow, before they went through the Spirit Portal to return home. She quietly made her way back over to the mushroom and carefully lay down next to her lover, wrapping her arms around her once more and snuggling her face into the crook of Asami's neck. "Tomorrow." she whispered, almost completely inaudible. She smiled to herself as she gently tightened her grip around Asami. "Tomorrow," she whispered again, and it was the last thought in her head as she drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

. . . . . .

The Dragon bird spirit who had helped Korra once, all those years ago, was waiting for them outside of the cave when the girls awoke. He ducked his head and allowed them to climb aboard when they were ready, and he took off, flying them back to the Spirit Portal. Korra stroked the giant bird's mighty neck, showing another sign of gratitude to this friendly spirit. Asami wrapped her hands around Korra as they picked up speed.

A Dark figure stood just in front of the new, yellow Spirit Portal that Korra and Asami had used and would be using to cross back into the Physical World.

"Avatar Korra...I am glad to see that you have finally come to meet me!" the figure yelled in a gruff voice as the spirit dropped the girls off and flew away. Asami gave Korra a reassuring look and released her hand, letting the Avatar walk closer to this figure, putting Asami safely behind her, secretly cursing this new obstacle in her carefully crafted plan.

"And just what might you be?" Korra yelled back with her classic touch of sarcasm as she walked a few steps forward, but kept a fair amount of distance. The man had a Dark aura around him, with long white hair and a pitch black tunic wrapped around his ghostly frame. Two scarlet red eyes pierced into Korra's mind, bringing up a disturbing memory of the Red Lotus symbol.

"I?" The man laughed quietly to himself for a moment. "I, young Avatar, am the pure embodiment of the spiritual energy of every single one of your past lives." He took a step closer towards Korra, who had stopped in her tracks. Hearing this man's voice up close allowed her to truly hear it, it was as if thousands of people were talking through him at once. There was not one voice to pinpoint as his own.

"So, you're...what, a new Dark Avatar?" Korra asked skeptically as she crossed her arms, "because I already dealt with Unavaatu." At the mention of her old enemies' name, Korra felt a large pang in her torso. She winced slightly but kept a good Avatar poker face. The Dark figure was laughing again.

"Unavaatu? Unavaatu was weak. Far too weak to compare to the power I hold. The power that's been growing in me for the last ten thousand years. I am known to many in this world, and I have many different names." his eyes flickered up, it was almost as if they were on fire, they were so red. "YOU may refer to me...as _Arrok_."

There was that pang in Korra's torso again. With it this time she could just barely hear the whispering of a quiet voice inside of her. The surrounding area was starting to become unbalanced, the entire meadow of purple flowers they stood in had died and withered instantaneously and the clouds had disappeared completely. The sky was the same color as Arrok's eyes.

"What is it that you want from me? I've dealt with more than enough crazy spirits in my lifetime. What makes you any different?" and although Korra sounded serious, she was growing more anxious by the second.

Arrok gave a throaty laugh that sounded completely demonic with the combined sound of all those voices. "What makes me different, girl, is that you and I are the only beings within known existence to possess the power to bend all four elements! Since the beginning of the Avatar cycle, I have grown from pure nothingness into your ultimate foe, gaining strength with every revolution of the cycle! Now that I have gained enough power, I shall destroy your very essence, young Avatar. I will be the conduit for all things that are chaos and destruction upon your world. And where you fall short without the guidance of your past lives, I am at the strongest I have _ever_ been!"

Korra couldn't stop herself, she risked a glance behind her to look at Asami, who was suddenly jutted into the air by a large earth pillar towards the Spirit Portal with a shriek. She landed in Arrok's arms gracefully as a plume of air slowed her descent.

"Asami!" Korra charged forward to retrieve her struggling girlfriend, but just as she was about to reach Arrok, a gargantuan plume of red fire burst from his mouth, sending the Avatar flying as she attempted to dodge the blast. She backflipped and landed on her feet with just enough time to spread her arms, dissipating the blast of fire that was still hurtling towards her. She started to charge again, but by the time her vision had cleared she could see Arrok stepping backwards into the Spirit Portal, Asami still locked in his arms with a vice grip, a massive grin on his face. "Korra!" she screamed as the two evaporated into the Physical World.

. . . . . . .

Korra burst through the portal and her eyes furiously began scanning every part of Republic City she could see around her. It was night time and some of the building's lights were on. Some tourists who had come to see the new Portal stopped what they were doing and stared at her, a few asked if she was alright. She ignored them and dropped her bag on the ground and began to call out. "Asami!" she yelled through cupped hands as her level of panic started to rise. "Has anyone seen Asami Sato?!" she yelled, but everyone nearby just shook their heads no. There was no way Korra was going to let the one thing that finally brought her happiness be taken from her. "ASAMI!" she screamed, her eyes beginning to fill with tears. She could barely see, barely breathe, her panic was spiking and she fell to her knees, and before she could cover her eyes to cry...she saw him. Arrok was floating weightlessly in the sky above her, watching her, waiting for her. He was holding Asami by one arm, her legs kicking ferociously as she punched at him and yelled obscenities. Korra could see the grin on his face, the way his eyes burned that bright red color. And the way he was floating…

Korra gasped as a massive twinge of pain shot through her entire body as the flashbacks of the battle with Zaheer came flooding back into her mind. And then her battle with Vaatu during Harmonic Convergence. And then Amon's voice spoke to her in her mind as she started to lift off of the ground, her blood being bent in a series of unexplainably painful twists and crunches, slowly rising as Arrok waved his hand as if controlling a puppet. His hold on her was just as strong as it was on...Asami...

"I told you I would destroy you…" Amon whispered...

"I would destroy you, Avatar…"

"I told you I would destroy you…Korra…" the whispering voice was becoming louder and louder as Korra floated higher and higher into the air, Arrok was just toying with her…

"Korra...fight…" the voice whispered, starting to sound urgent. She recognized that voice…

"Fight...Avatar...Korra...FIGHT!" the voice of Avatar Aang was clear now in her head, and her eyes closed as more voices began to yell into her mind. Suddenly within herself, she understood.

"Fight!" all of the Avatars were yelling it, she could hear them all now as they all started to reappear in her self conscious their eyes glowing brightly. "FIGHT!"

Avatar Korra's eyes burst open, flashing white hot with the Avatar State as she regained control over her body. With one swift movement Korra sent Arrok hurtling towards the open bay with a hurricane level blast of air and caught Asami before she could fall more than a few feet. Arrok smashed into the water, creating an enormous splash.

Korra had perfected her flying with firebending technique, effortlessly levitating in the sky where Arrok had been a moment before with pillars of fire flaring from her feet, holding her estranged girlfriend. Asami looked into her eyes lovingly, then looked over to where Arrok had splashed down, then back at Korra. "Get him," she commanded. Korra did not need to be told twice. She dropped Asami carefully into a gentle tornado that carried her safely back to the ground.

Korra fluidly raised her hands and began to move them in a circular motion; a massive orb of water forming where Arrok had gone under. The orb formed quickly and Korra squeezed her hands into fists, the orb freezing completely solid in an instant. This battle was over.

The orb of ice slowly began to take on a deep red color. Moments later, Arrok burst from the ice, his eyes a solid jet black. He made several quick jabbing motions in Korra's direction, huge spikes of ice were shooting towards her which she outmaneuvered expertly, spreading her fingers and shattering the ice into particles and snow. She charged the Dark Avatar once more, the fire shooting from her propelling her forward as she let out an enraged scream, but Arrok was ready. He shot himself out of the water towards the shore, where he spun and raised a massive boulder from the ground, throwing it towards the Avatar, which was too big to dodge in time, she had to tunnel through it with earthbending.

Korra crunched her fists as she burst from the other side of the massive boulder, which exploded into four pieces, each of which in turn exploded again into thousands of tiny rocks. She made quick movements with her hands, the pebbles shot forward with the speed of lightning, creating thousands of holes and splashes in the ground and water around Arrok, whose hands were raised, bending the pebbles and stones into dust.

Korra smashed a crater into the ground in front of Arrok and jumped, delivering a powerful firebending combo through a series of punches and kicks. She pressed her wrists together, swirls of fire were flowing over each other at Arrok, but the bubble of air he was bending just absorbed her fire, and before the Avatar could react she was being blown backwards into the bay with a combination of fire and air. Her clothes tried to catch fire before she landed in the water with another huge splash, sinking below the surface.

"Give it up, Avatar! No matter what element you throw at me, it will never be enough! Your time in this world has come to an end!" Arrok screamed as he took to the air again, floating slowly over to where Korra went under. "Come on out, little girl, you're about to be-eh!" he was interrupted as the Avatar's hand shot out of the water, grabbing him by the face. Her fingers opened and blasted the Dark Avatar back, spraying fire into his face at point blank range.

"Agghhhh!" he screamed as he fell back into the water as well, his face charred black. Korra's eyes flashed white again as she began to rise up in a water vortex. She waved her arms, and a layer of fire was added around her. She did this twice more, now completely surrounded in a vortex of water, fire, earth, and air. Arrok burst out of the water again, but before he could act, he was met with unrelenting, combined blasts of the four elements. He yelled in fear, attempting to outmaneuver the Avatar as she kept up a relentless assault of elemental power. He flew around her, trying to gain the upper hand, but she was everywhere, the elemental vortex carried her as if it were an extension of her body.

"You might have the power to bend all of the elements, but I possess a power that no other Spirit could ever possibly imagine!" Korra announced powerfully, the voice of Raava backing her up.

She reached out a hand at Arrok and crunched it into a fist, he was suddenly unable to move at all, completely frozen in place. But this wasn't bloodbending…

The Avatar twisted her arms and brought them down. From all over Republic City, people saw the newly opened Spirit Portal start to curve in the Avatar's direction. She focused the beam right on the struggling Dark Avatar, who started to scream as if his entire body were burning. The ground began to vibrate as his essence was ripped apart, the Spirit Portal absorbing him, until what was left of his body slowly dissolved into nothing but harmless little lights.

The Spirit Portal straightened itself back out as Avatar Korra released her grip on it, putting her hands together and bowing as she whispered "Go in Peace." She slowly began to descend towards the ground, her pillar of elemental power fading until all that was left were water and rocks, which splashed back down into the bay.

The moment Korra touched the ground near the Portal, Asami tackle hugged her and began placing smooches all over her face. Korra laughed and wrapped her arms around Asami, spinning her around and pulling her into one huge kiss. "Korra! Oh my Spirits, that was amazing!" Asami laughed hysterically as she placed another huge kiss on the shorter girl's lips. People all around them were clapping and cheering, whether it was because what the Avatar had just done was an amazing experience, or because of the two girls kissing. Either way, they didn't care. The Dark Avatar had been destroyed relatively quickly, and Korra decided that now was better than never. "Asami...I'm so sorry about everything that just happened...are you ok?" she asked worriedly, but Asami just laughed. "I'm fine! Are you alright? It looked like he underestimated you, big time." she said happily and hugged and kissed Korra and said she loved her. Korra smiled again and nodded, then looked directly into her girlfriend's eyes. "Did you have a good time in the Spirit World?"

Asami grinned. "It was amazing, Korra! The best vacation I've ever been on!"

Korra grinned. "Well, great! Because I want to tell you something...well, I just feel such a strong bond to you, Asami...and I know we haven't been dating for very long, but...I feel like you're my...soul mate." she said, blushing heavily. Asami's eyes were starting to go wide with her smile. "I agree, Korra. I do," she said when Korra looked her in the eyes. The Avatar blushed again and continued.

"And I was wondering if...you would give me the opportunity...to spend the rest of my life with you." She fumbled around in her pocket and pulled out the betrothal necklace, which glowed in it's distinct colors and Asami covered her mouth, her eyes filled with tears.

"Korra...I love you so much…" Asami leaned in and kissed her again, staying locked together for a good while. They finally broke apart and Korra giggled. "Does that mean yes?" she asked with a goofy grin on her face. Asami giggled and kissed the Avatar again. "Yes. It means yes."

"Yes!" Korra air boosted herself in a jump and spun around. Asami laughed at her girlfriend's adorable awkwardness and excitement. Everybody was cheering and clapping again, and Korra moved Asami's black hair to tie the necklace around her neck, the coin hanging by the lace, glowing beautifully, which she took in her hand and turned over in her fingers, it was a breathtaking betrothal necklace. She smiled as Korra lifted a couple inches off the ground using earthbending to clear the height difference, wrapped her arms around Asami and placed yet another passionate kiss on her lips. Korra then grabbed her arm and ran to grab her bag, turning to look Asami in the face again. "Let's go tell everybody!" she exclaimed excitedly and ran off for Air Temple Island.


End file.
